Chapter 610: Nobody Understands Androids Better Than I Do (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

August 15, 2038. The time was displayed on the advertisement screen inside the elevator.

The camera then slowly pulled back, and Song Ren saw himself: a very young and handsome man, dressed in a black suit, wearing a tie, with an indifferent expression.

However, the circular mark on his temple proved that he was not human, but an android.

“Becoming human, so in the game, the player takes on the role of an android?”

Song Ren speculated.

The elevator was continuously ascending. At this moment, Song Ren had not yet gained control of the character.

The young man's hands skillfully fiddled with a coin.

It wasn't until the elevator reached the 70th floor penthouse that he put away the coin, straightened his tie, and looked straight ahead, waiting for the elevator doors to open.

Once the elevator doors opened, a heavily armed soldier at the entrance, holding a gun, communicated with his superior via radio.

‘Negotiator on site, repeat: Negotiator on site.’

So I'm a negotiator? That actually makes a lot of sense.

After all, being a negotiator is a high-risk profession, as it involves negotiating with heinous criminals holding hostages. If the hostage-taker gets angry, he certainly can't kill his hostages, so the negotiator will suffer the consequences.

And as an android, being a robot, there must be something extraordinary about them, which makes them very suitable for this profession!

Song Ren showed a realization.

He didn't rush forward, but instead studied the in-game controls and observed his surroundings.

The house he was in now should be a luxurious mansion, covering a very wide area, even featuring a huge aquarium.

On a table to the right of the corridor lay a family photo of the house's owner, along with some documents and potted plants.

But what surprised Song Ren the most was that he found everything around him could be interacted with.

Approaching some more obvious objects would bring up corresponding interactive observation UIs.

In addition, some items didn't have interactive UIs, but could still be interacted with in the game. For example, when he approached the fish tank, Song Ren could get closer and observe what was inside.

As for the brainwave-reading control mode, this unique method of operation initially made him a little unaccustomed, much like a player used to mouse and keyboard suddenly playing a game with a controller.

However, it was indeed more convenient, especially when combined with the VR experience pod's immersive sensation and full-body force feedback, giving him a feeling as if he were actually doing these things himself.

While Song Ren was still experimenting with the new control mode, fully armed soldiers in the corridor were leading out a middle-aged woman with tear-streaked eyes.

“Please, please, you must save my daughter…”

The middle-aged woman, her face wet with tears, grabbed the young man and pleaded with him.

But then, she noticed the blinking mark on the young man's temple and immediately put on a masterclass in changing expressions.

“Wait a minute! You’re sending an android? You… you can’t do that! It’ll kill my daughter… Why aren’t you sending a real person?”

“Don’t let that thing near my daughter! Why waste time sending an android to negotiate!?” The woman wailed as she was led away by the guards.

Only Song Ren was left bewildered.

Did the android offend you? Did I eat your rice?

You'll soon find out what a negotiator is!

Do you understand what an expert is?

Why send an android?

Because we are all androids, so nobody understands androids better than I do!

Song Ren muttered inwardly.

He continued forward, and a prompt appeared in his vision.

[Scanning can be activated at any time to find target information]

At the moment of activation, a faint blue data stream swept across everything in Song Ren's vision. In this mode, all surrounding sounds disappeared, and everyone's movements ceased. The space was divided into small squares by faint blue lines, and on the left side of his vision, the current mission objective was displayed: Find Captain Allen.

This feeling was like Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption activating Dead Eye, with the added Eagle Vision functions from The Witcher and Assassin's Creed.

In the data-driven world, Song Ren could see a deep yellow humanoid outline behind a nearby wall. Clearly, that was his mission target – Captain Allen.

After turning off the scanning function, time flow in the game returned to normal.

Song Ren controlled the character and walked into the room.

At this time, the police officers in the room were actively preparing. Basic information about these people also appeared above their heads. Obviously, the CyberLife database contained all their relevant data.

Coming to Captain Allen's side, Song Ren lost control of the character, triggering a cutscene.

‘Captain Allen, I am Connor, an android sent by CyberLife.’

Song Ren also learned the name of the character he was now controlling from this introduction.

Captain Allen in the game didn't give Connor a good look, only perfunctorily giving him some simple information when Connor stepped forward to introduce himself.

At this moment, a red numerical value appeared before Song Ren's eyes: Success Rate 48%.

Clearly, this was the success rate for going directly into negotiation. If he stubbornly went straight to negotiation without considering anything else, he would be gambling on luck.

There was a 48% chance of successfully negotiating and rescuing the hostage.

But there was also a 52% chance of it turning into a Russian-style negotiation.

So, the next step was to collect clues to understand the incident better, then negotiate to rescue the hostage.

Looking at the mission on the android's UI interface, Song Ren basically understood the situation.

Using Connor's android abilities to search the room, he quickly found a clue in a briefcase. By analyzing the briefcase and a small box, he found that it originally contained a pistol and bullets, and the data reconstructed the model of the firearm and ammunition.

[MS853 Blackhawk, Capacity: 17 rounds (.335 caliber), Overall length: 22 cm / Barrel: 13 cm]

[.335 caliber bullet, Speed: 365 m/s / Bullet kinetic energy: 659 joules, Bullet weight: 115 grams / Firepower coefficient: 414K]

After analyzing these clues, a prompt named 'Reconstruct' appeared, and then Song Ren's eyes widened. Under the composition of data streams, the previous scene was recreated. Song Ren clearly saw how an android, made of data lines, took down the briefcase and pulled out the pistol. This was what had happened here before.

“Holy cow, there's black tech like this!?” Song Ren couldn't help but marvel.

After finding the first clue and piecing it together to restore the original scene, Song Ren noticed that the previous 48% chance had now risen to 54%. Clearly, he needed to continuously analyze what had happened to increase the success rate of the negotiation.

Standing up, Song Ren controlled Connor to continue searching the room for useful information.

In the hostage's bedroom, through a tablet and other information, Song Ren learned the name of the perpetrator: Daniel, an anomalous android. He then proceeded to the main hall, the first crime scene, where a middle-aged man with a gunshot wound to the chest lay on the floor, clearly the unfortunate victim.

Just like scanning the box where the gun was stored, as Connor scanned, data began to change, and from Connor's perspective, the entire world became digitized.

In this digitized world, the scene was recreated once more. However, Song Ren noticed that the victim seemed to have been holding something like a tablet, and the camera even gave this tablet a close-up. Clearly, this item should be a useful clue.

Song Ren searched the floor and soon found a blood-stained tablet. Gently swiping it open, an order message was displayed:

‘Your AP700 android order has been registered. CyberLife thanks you for your purchase.’

So this android was about to be replaced?

Song Ren noted down this information while continuing to search the room for advantageous information.

At this moment, a gunshot rang out.

Turning the camera towards the direction of the shot, Song Ren saw a police officer, who had been shot, being helped out of the house by a companion. At the same time, on the floor, Song Ren saw the body of a police officer who had died but had not yet been processed. Besides the body, there was also a pool of blue blood on the floor; as is well known, human blood should be red, so this must be android blood.

Through the android's blood on the ground, Connor had obtained all data about this android from CyberLife's database, including its model number and so on. In addition, Song Ren also found a pistol on the ground and picked it up, apparently the pistol of the deceased officer.

After searching for information, Song Ren found that the success rate had already reached 78%. Either there were still clues he hadn't discovered, or it would be a real-time adjustment during the negotiation with the android later.

However, he did not continue searching, because the situation on the scene was very tense, with people constantly being shot and injured.

Following the system's prompts, Song Ren walked outside, preparing to have a good talk about life and ideals with the hostage-taking android.

Pushing aside the curtains and stepping onto the open balcony, a gunshot immediately rang out. Instantly, Song Ren's vision shook slightly, and the android's UI interface glowed red. Clearly, he had been shot, and blue blood splattered on the glass door nearby.

Fortunately, it was a shoulder shot, not fatal.

Next, an option appeared in Song Ren's vision: [Call out the name of the anomalous android].

Clearly, this was a reasoning and text-puzzle game. A game where you collect clues and then trigger subsequent plotlines through dialogue. A game that requires thinking? He was exceptionally good at that.

Negotiation, right? Just leave everything to me.

Nobody understands androids better than I do!

(End of Chapter) <>